Posted: 10/14/2025 9:32:40 AM EDT
| Is there any good cookbooks out there for creating starters and baking different sourdough breads? |
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Search University Extension sourdough. University extension offices give solid, thorough, tried and true instructions and recipes. For example, that search brought up University of Illinois Extension’s pdf: Sourdough Bread 101 which looks to be excellent instructions on making and maintaining starter and making sourdough bread. It even includes links to other good sets of instructions. Most are printable pdfs with NO ADVERTISING!!!! American agriculture information for Americans, paid for by Americans. |
But then again, I just need to get my post count up.
| If you are serious about wanting to make some outstanding sourdough, pickup the Chad Robert book, Tartine Bread from Amazon. Its the book I started with late 2023 and we are now on track to sell about 10,000 loaves this year, up from about 3,000 last year. Our recipes have shifted a bit from Chad's but his is rock solid and much more flavor than the typical "instagram" loaves you see everywhere. |
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Originally Posted By dschwartzaz2: If you are serious about wanting to make some outstanding sourdough, pickup the Chad Robert book, Tartine Bread from Amazon. Its the book I started with late 2023 and we are now on track to sell about 10,000 loaves this year, up from about 3,000 last year. Our recipes have shifted a bit from Chad's but his is rock solid and much more flavor than the typical "instagram" loaves you see everywhere. I have seen this book mentioned a lot. I think I will order it. |
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Originally Posted By MonkeyGrip: Search University Extension sourdough. University extension offices give solid, thorough, tried and true instructions and recipes. For example, that search brought up University of Illinois Extension’s pdf: Sourdough Bread 101 which looks to be excellent instructions on making and maintaining starter and making sourdough bread. It even includes links to other good sets of instructions. Most are printable pdfs with NO ADVERTISING!!!! American agriculture information for Americans, paid for by Americans. I just watched their video on sourdough starter. They make it look easy. |
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Originally Posted By Sparky: I just watched their video on sourdough starter. They make it look easy. Originally Posted By Sparky: Originally Posted By MonkeyGrip: Search University Extension sourdough. University extension offices give solid, thorough, tried and true instructions and recipes. For example, that search brought up University of Illinois Extension’s pdf: Sourdough Bread 101 which looks to be excellent instructions on making and maintaining starter and making sourdough bread. It even includes links to other good sets of instructions. Most are printable pdfs with NO ADVERTISING!!!! American agriculture information for Americans, paid for by Americans. I just watched their video on sourdough starter. They make it look easy. It really is easy. Thanks for bringing this up, I could use figuring out a recipe for loaf bread that I like. My attempts so far have been pretty dense, I need to fix that. They were always great tasting, just more dense than I would like for sandwiches and the like. My staple so far has been rolls and pizza dough. We really love the pizzas. ETA: Looking at some of the links I'm getting with the above search, they are using yeast packets to make their sourdough. I just let the natural yeast in the air in my house do the work. Look up that process as well. I believe it will yield a more sour product. No commercial yeast has gone into my starter or bread. |
It's not journalism, it's sensationalism
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No adding of commercial yeast here: Wild yeast is naturally on the flour and in the air. Yeast does not need to be intentionally captured from the air, nor does commercial yeast need to be added when making a sourdough starter. These wild yeasts are inactive, but under suitable conditions will become activated in the presence of water. Flour. Use unbleached flour, preferably rye flour or whole-grain flour. You may use a combination of flours. University of Illinois Extension Sourdough 101 Sourdough Starter Best Practices: Colorado State University Extension Doesn't seem like they make it look so easy: Time It can take 14 days to a month to establish a starter. It must be fed daily and twice daily starting on day 4.  |
But then again, I just need to get my post count up.
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I've started a couple of starters. Not really very difficult. The best way to start a starter I've found is the pineapple juice method. You can google it up - but the gist is using unsweetened pineapple juice instead of water the first week or so helps keep bad bugs from developing until the wild yeast culture is healthy enough to fend for itself. I've had the best luck starting with rye flour. It has a high concentration of wild yeast in it and is easier to get healthy and going. You can transition to other flours after the culture is healthy. I ended up using 2/3 unbleached all purpose flour and 1/3 dark rye for my basic starter. |
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Originally Posted By Kipple: It really is easy. Thanks for bringing this up, I could use figuring out a recipe for loaf bread that I like. My attempts so far have been pretty dense, I need to fix that. They were always great tasting, just more dense than I would like for sandwiches and the like. My staple so far has been rolls and pizza dough. We really love the pizzas. ETA: Looking at some of the links I'm getting with the above search, they are using yeast packets to make their sourdough. I just let the natural yeast in the air in my house do the work. Look up that process as well. I believe it will yield a more sour product. No commercial yeast has gone into my starter or bread. For loaf bread, check King Arthur. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/bread |
I do better watching than reading. Just started "starter" last week. Easy Sourdough Starter Guide |
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New info for an old thread You can successfully capture wild yeast at home. 3/4 cup flour, to one cup distilled water, mix vigorously in a one qt mason jar. Place a loose cover, that is very porous. Cheese cloth does a great job. I have even used paper towel. Secure it to the top of the jar with wide rubberbands. Stir every other day, add more distilled water if it looks dry. Place it in the driest, warmest part of your kitchen. Preferable near your stove. When you see bubbles forming? Give it the whiff test. If the smell makes you want to gag? Dump in trash and start over. If it is successful in trapping good yeast, it will smell yeasty, with a slight acidic/sour smell. A light waterish layer on top is normal. Just mix it back into the fold. Congrats on your new starter. You can leave starter in your kitchen unattended for weeks, and still bring it back to life, for use in baking. You can neglect it for months, and still "Wash" it to bring it back to life. But if you feed it a tablespoon of flour every week! It can last forever. I learned everything I know from the great Dr. Ed Wood may he RiP! I highly recommend his book! And if you want a quality starter, grab a few of his old world cultures. He and his wife literally travelled the world collecting sourdough cultures.  https://sourdo.com/ |